Cops finding Kanda tough nut to crack

If tracing Gopal Kanda, the former Haryana minister accused of abetting 23-year-old former airhostess Geetika Sharma’s suicide, proved to be tough, the Delhi Police has a bigger hurdle ahead — getting him to cooperate with the investigators.

If tracing Gopal Kanda, the former Haryana minister accused of abetting 23-year-old former airhostess Geetika Sharma’s suicide, proved to be tough, the Delhi Police has a bigger hurdle ahead — getting him to cooperate with the investigators.

Sources said Kanda, on the first day of his interrogation on Sunday, remained his cautious best. “He responded to questions but his answers were well-rehearsed. The only thing he admitted was that Geetika was a former employee of MDLR airlines,” said a police officer.

Asked about his hideouts, Kanda said he stayed at various places in Gurgaon, Delhi, Sirsa and Jaipur.

After being served a notice on August 8 to join the probe, Kanda left his Civil Lines home in Gurgaon for a friend’s house in Ashok Vihar, Delhi. He was purportedly accompanied by a Gurgaon Police officer.

“The same night, Kanda moved to Sirsa and hid at his friend’s house till August 11. Between August 11 and 14, he was hiding in the house of a relative’s friend. On August 15, he shifted to Gurgaon, reaching Delhi on August 17 and eventually surrendering,” the officer said.

A Delhi Police team took Kanda to his defunct MDLR airlines office in Gurgaon on Sunday and his residence. After a three-hour search operation, the police seized computer CPUs, hard disks and files.